This book analyzes how states extend their sovereignty beyond their territories through the language of diasporas. An increasing number of states are interested in supporting, managing or controlling their populations abroad, something they define as their `diaspora'. Yet what does it mean for governments to formulate claims of sovereignty over populations who reside outside the very borders that legitimate them? This book argues that `diaspora' should be understood as a performative discourse that enables transnational political practices that could otherwise not be justified in a...